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Excess Voice Newsletter
December 2006, Issue # 121
In this issue:
>> Intro: Happy Holidays
>> Review: A gift list for writers
>> Article: Make every page on your web site look unique
>> Survey: How much time will you take off over the holidays?
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Greetings,
Welcome to the final issue of the year. I’m taking a couple of weeks off after Christmas, so the next issue won’t be until January 16th.
How much time are *you* taking off? That’s the topic of this issue’s survey.
Also, in the holiday spirit, I have listed links to reviews of a number of products and services which I think might make a nice gift, for yourself or for a fellow writer.
Finally, the article takes a look at the sometimes tricky business of making your web site pages look different from one another. Read the article and you’ll find all is explained.
I wish you a very happy holiday season, and hope you are taking at least a little time off.
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Usborne
P.S. On the subject of gifts, be sure to consider some Business Jargon Protest
Mugs for holiday gifts this year. http://www.cafepress.com/jokegifts
Newsletter: http://www.excessvoice.com
Copywriting and consulting: http://www.nickusborne.com
>> Feedback: nick@excessvoice.com
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REVIEW: A gift list for writers
What I have done here is list a few products and services which I think might make a nice gift, either for yourself or for some other writer in your life.
#1: Buy a license for SiteBuildIt
As you may already know, SiteBuildIt is an integrated and all-inclusive package for anyone who wants to make money from their own web site. Not a bad project for someone who already has writing skills – like you.
It includes a ton of modules, with a keyword search tool to help you find a profitable niche, domain hosting, site templates (or upload your own HTML), marketing tools, analytics and a whole lot more.
I started building a site with it almost a year ago, and it’s already earning me four figures a month in income.
Read my full review here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/sitebuildit.htm
#2: The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Course
Maybe it’s the time of year, but around Christmas I always warm up to the idea of doing some travel writing.
It just seems like such a pleasant way to make money. You get to visit new places, really find out about them, and then write an article or two.
And get paid.
Read my full review here:
http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/travel.php
#3: Treat yourself to a Keurig B6o single cup coffee maker
Yes, I have a thing about coffee and the coffee business. And I love to drink coffee too.
The trouble is, I seem to be drinking quite a bit more of it since I got my Keurig B60.
No grinding, no mess, and no stale or tepid coffee. You just pop in a K-Cup when you want a cup of coffee, and press one button.
If you have a home office and are lazy, like me, this saves walking to the kitchen to make and pour your coffee.
This is a great gift for any coffee lover working at home. Or for anyone else who likes coffee.
Read my full review here:
http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/keurig-b60.php
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ARTICLE: Make every page on your web site look unique.
I’m not talking about making the whole page look different.
The header and navigation areas should remain the same, so people feel and know they are in the “same place”.
In fact, I feel uncomfortable on those sites where the basic page layout and design changes as soon as you get into the shopping cart. The switch in layout sends a danger signal to one’s brain, “Am I still in the right place?”
On the other hand, you do need to make each page appear unique, even if the basic design and typography remain the same.
>> Here’s why.
I was recently working on a retail site which sells thousands of different products.
But within each category, at the top of each page, they included the same “category graphic”.
This might have worked had the image been much smaller. But the graphic took up a significant part of the first screen of the page.
The result was that when you moved from one page to another within that category, at first sight it appeared as if you had simply opened the same page again.
It didn’t take me long to figure out what was happening. But as a visitor, I shouldn’t have to pause or hesitate in order to work out what the page designer has done.
This is an avoidable barrier that gets in the way of a visitor’s smooth passage through your site.
>> How to make each page unique
Sometimes this is easy. If each product looks different, simply add an image of the product on the first screen.
If your products all look pretty much the same, then take a photograph of the product in use. Even if the products look the same, you can vary the appearance of the images by showing the products being used.
If you sell a service, it’s a little harder. But it can still help if you can find an image or graphic that differentiates each page visually.
If you have pages of content, like articles, the headline will do. When browsing articles, people are used to focusing on the headline as the point of differentiation.
>> Concluding thoughts...
As I mentioned earlier, you don’t want to do anything that makes your visitor pause or hesitate. The moment you do that, you start to lower your conversion rates.
Sometimes it will take very little to make a visitor abandon your site altogether.
So make sure that while each page looks like it belongs to the one before, there is some relevant visual clue that identifies each page as being different.
** If you would prefer to read this article on the web, or would like to forward the url to a colleague or friend, you'll find it here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/article121.htm
>> Feedback: nick@excessvoice.com
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SURVEY: How much time will you take off over the holidays?
Taking a break from work is good for the body and soul. And the Christmas holiday season gives us all a good reason to kick back and relax. So how much time will you be taking off?
[ ] No time off
[ ] Less than a week
[ ] Between one and two weeks
[ ] More
Comments: ....
(NOTE: Any comments and your name may be published in the next issue, or on the Excess Voice web site.)
Cut and paste your replies to me at nick@excessvoice.com
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NICK USBORNE'S SERVICES:
Yes, I do more than write articles and publish newsletters.
Ask me to write for your site, emails and newsletters.
http://www.nickusborne.com/copywriting.htm
Ask me to optimize your key offer pages...
http://www.nickusborne.com/consulting.htm
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Like coffee? Visit my coffee sites:
http://www.coffeedetective.com/
http://www.coffeebestbuys.com/
http://www.fairtradecoffeenews.com/
And my new blog about working from home...
http://www.homeofficeproductivity.com
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